Animal tales

Hugs and Kisses

Hugs and Kisses are two Pygmy goats who came to us when their family made a move from the rural area outside of Gainesville, Texas, into town. It seems that townies take a dim view of goats inside the city limits.

The little goats tried life in a sort of petting zoo in the Gainesville area but were asked to leave because they were “butting the other goats.” This activity is apparently forbidden in a petting zoo, whose founder had no idea that this is a favorite goat activity.

Kicked out of the petting zoo, they returned to their original home for a few nights until their people found Dreamtime and asked whether or not they could come to us. Since Nancy has a soft spot for goats, she said “yes” and before long the two little ones found their way south to Elgin, Texas.

They were at first horrified by the variety of animals they encountered and stayed as far as possible from all of them. They refused to eat in protest of the many changes in their life.

As a human, Nancy was the only “safe” being in their new world because the little ones had imprinted on people and knew nothing of other animals. In the end their natural curiosity won out and they now feel they own the place. Their former person, Carolyn remains quite interested in her “babies.”

Joe and Hope

One day in late August or early September of 2004, I had a telephone call from Josh Colvin, Cruelty Intervention Coordinator for the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, asking whether or not Dreamtime would be open to taking on blind horses. I had my doubts but as I listened to his story I found myself drawn to open the doors to these two.

Joe and Hope had belonged to a person in Clark County Iowa who at one time had some 160 horses. Following numerous complaints about conditions at the facility the Animal Rescue League of Iowa investigated and determined that many of the horses were living in deplorable conditions. In a coordinated effort with local law enforcement the Animal Rescue League of Iowa began the process of seizing those horses in the worst condition. Among them were Hope and Joe.

Following the seizure, Colvin stated. “The person who owned them had been neglecting horses for many years. The stallion (Joe) was in a filthy stall up to his knees in a mixture of mud, urine and manure. He seemed friendly, but looked broken. His head was down and he was in poor condition. The mare (Hope) was in the center arena with three other horses. You could see her backbone easily and she had many deep scars on her back, probably from the other horses picking on her. Of all the horses we seized that day, we really had little hope for these two. Who would want blind horses? ”

To further complicate matters, following their removal, the two struck up a strong friendship. “As soon as we saw their interaction to one another, we knew they needed to be together,” said Colvin.

Not hopeful, Colvin began a search for appropriate sanctuaries. That was when Dreamtime got a call. After hearing the story of these two horses, I told him I would consider taking them. Colvin indicated that they would prefer a sanctuary closer to Iowa, and would continue their interviews of prospective sanctuaries.

I thought about these two creatures for weeks, wondering at the spirit that caused them to survive. I also wondered if they had found a home. Then one day the phone rang, it was Colvin. “We have found no one else who is willing to take blind horses. Are you still willing?” I said I was and so began making arrangements for their arrival. Colvin too began preparations, having Joe gelded, and arranging for transportation to Dreamtime.

On the night of October 27, 2004, the hauler hired to deliver Joe and Hope phoned. They were two hours away. I couldn’t sleep any more from the anticipation of their arrival. Then, sometime well after midnight the phone rang again. “We’re turning onto your road.” I was out of the house and standing at the gate in a flash. Soon the headlights came over the horizon. A large trailer stopped at my gate and I looked inside to see two tired and anxious horses. We led them off the trailer, one at a time, and down to a pen. Once they were settled a bit the hauler drove off into the night

I stood in the quiet dark of that fall night. Two blind horses. A recently gelded stallion and a mare, both of whom had known nothing but misery at the hands of humans. What had I gotten into?

The two were inseparable and over time began to settle into the calm routine of daily life at Dreamtime. They learned to trust me as I was quiet and brought food. Still thin, their appearance was much improved from when they were first found on that property in Iowa. Over time they began to put on more weight. The scars disappeared. Their coats began to shine. Three elderly Dreamtime companion horses became their eyes. They gained in confidence and were soon navigating all over the small pasture they shared with the others.

Joe, who clearly sees some shadows and light, is the more confident of the two. He continues to behave as the stallion he had been for 17 years. He will stand for long hours to be stroked, even on the nose that had clearly been broken at some time in his life. Hope, on the other hand, is completely blind and therefore more hesitant about touch. She wants to be close to us but is easily frightened by movement which she feels but doesn’t see. She walks with her head and neck held in an odd way using them to sense any obstacle that might be in her way. Both are living proof that horses – and other animals – do not appear to consider blindness to be a handicap. There is no indication that they feel self-pity but, rather, that they simply live their lives as ordinary horses among their horse friends. Nancy Jensen-Case

Bea and Andrew

After the long drive from the city trauma center hospital, where I’m a chaplain, I arrived at home late, hot and tired. There was a message on the phone machine from an elderly San Antonio area woman. She had two young “goats” in her yard and she was worried for their safety as she lived rather close to a busy state highway. The lady told me that she is partially disabled and is only able to navigate outdoors with the use of an electric golf cart. She did not feel able to care for orphan goats.

We talked for some time and I finally agreed to make the two and a half-hour drive from my Elgin, Texas, sanctuary/home to help catch and transport the little animals.

I arrived in San Antonio in the early evening of the following day and caught only a glimpse of the lost “goats” before they ran off. That glimpse, however, told me that these goat children were, in fact, newborn Barbados lambs who desperately needed the attention of a mother.

The kind-hearted lady and I discussed various methods of catching the little ones. I finally opted to leave a large wire dog crate with a bucket of oats and corn inside in hopes that they would be drawn to go inside sometime during the night. With that, I left for the return to Elgin, thinking that it would be some time before I heard from the lady again.

Well, at 6:45 AM on Sunday morning my telephone rang. It was the kindly lady in San Antonio saying, “They just went into the cage and my son-in-law closed the door. They’re in there but they’re not happy about it.”

So began my return trip to San Antonio. I arrived to find two terrified babies in a big dog crate. They were no more than a week old and very hungry although they had been trying to nibble on grasses and the grains I had left. I learned that they had probably come from a neighbor’s property. The neighbor had refused to claim them, although she had a number of Barbados sheep, and ultimately acknowledged that some of her dogs had killed two of the ewes just that week.

We made the long drive back to Elgin and began the difficult process of teaching two uncertain infants to suck from a rubber nipple. Within a day or two the ewe lamb Bea caught on and did very well with her bottle but her brother was completely baffled by the strange thing in his mouth. I had to begin feeding him with a twelve cc syringe which certainly made for long feeding times. After a number of weeks of syringe feedings little Andrew saw the light and he began to suck actively on his syringe. At that point I was able to reintroduce him to his bottle and he quickly caught up with his sister.

Both lambs had white muscle disease at the time they came to Dreamtime and were generally malnourished but with vitamin injections and so forth began to turn around. They have thrived on goat’s milk and have grown and developed well. They have never doubted that they are sheep and hang out contentedly with their Merino cousins. I believe that I have been accepted into their world as a rather strange-looking sheep mama but since I bring them good stuff to drink and provide them good oats and hay, they regard me with affectionate tolerance. Our sanctuary world has been enormously enriched with their presence and we are again reminded that love and beauty come in many forms. Nancy Jensen-Case

Kisses

Hugs

Joe and Hope

Both are living proof that horses – and other animals – do not appear to consider blindness to be a handicap. There is no indication that they feel self-pity but, rather, that they simply live their lives as ordinary horses among their horse friends.